To the tutor: Tell me which prompt you would like to choose per question, and I will supply the information needed

To the tutor: Tell me which prompt you would like to choose per question, and I will supply the information needed

Part I: 80%:

In around 150-200 word responses each (300 max), choose one question to answer from your choices for each question, and situate your responses w.r.t. the assigned readings (!), the lectures / lecture notes, or moments in discussion, with citations where relevant. Each answer is worth 10 points.

The word-limit ranges are approximate, and I’m not going to count each word.

Short: If a response is well below the minimum of 75, 150, and 350, then I’ll probably notice that if you also didn’t cover the various dimensions of the question. If it’s a bit shorter but really compact, informed and informative writing, you’ll still do fine.

Long: I won’t downgrade if you go over the word limits within reason. I only start to notice if a 100 word response starts to look more like 250-500, etc. I will only downgrade if the quality of the answer could have been much improved by editing down & condensing. Sometimes students spend way too long on written exams. I totally appreciate the extra effort, but don’t strain and stress yourself. If you tend to be over-comprehensive, and simply can’t say everything you want in the word limit, that’s a-okay, but start counting, and try to hold yourself to something reasonable and cogent. Question 110 pts

Question 1:

Choose one:

1. Explain in greater detail (possibly involving additional research beyond the textbook, slides, or lecture) three major theories of myth—etiological, euhermeristic, allegorical, romantic, völkish, psychological, comparative, structuralist, and poststructuralist or postmodernist—making sure to explain that theory of myths in terms of a major figure or founder, and core ideas, and also making sure to include at least 1 ancient and 1 modern theory. What is your preferred theory of myth so far and why? And what are potential problems you can perceive for your preferred theory?

2. Having re-read Armstrong on mythos vs. logos in the history of human cultural development and myth, Asante’s chapters on Egyptian myth as philosophy, and Witzel’s definition of myth (see slides), give your best, most considered account on how logos and mythos ought to be defined, respectively, and how differing definitions play out across human historical culture. Is logos vs. mythos still a useful distinction or binary opposition today? What are the potential consequences of your answer for your own views on myth’s “ultimate significance”, and its relation to science or religion.

Question 2:

Choose one:

1. In the Atrahasis tablet humans beings are invented as worker-slaves in order to avert a divine civil war. Explain the mythical roles of all the major players in the set-up of this myth and what it teaches us about: a. the nature, benefits, and drawbacks of humanity; b. the nature of work and its relation to death and history (make sure to cite from Patocka here). Why is the Atrahasis anthropogony relevant to our understanding of prehistory, and why might it still be relevant and important today?

2. At this point in the course we have studied many major ancient goddesses—especially Tiamat, Ishtar/Inanna, Isis (and briefly in the slides, her earlier forms as Hathor/Sekhmet), as well as the Indian Devi—identify dual aspects of each of these goddesses and how they tend to map on traditional binaries used to define the feminine such as good vs. evil, upper-world vs. under-world, darkness vs. light, power vs. vulnerability, etc. Next, compare and contrast Ishtar’s descent myth with either Isis’s wanderings and ordeals, or the myth of Demeter and Persephone (Armstrong and the slides/lecture). What do you think explains some of the extremely close parallels and divergences?

3. Chaos vs. Order, Rural vs. Urban, and Savage vs. Civilized are significant themes across myth. Evaluate, compare, and contrast the configuration of these themes in Armstrong’s accounts of Marduk and Gilgamesh as heroes, and in terms of the textbook’s analysis of the hero’s journey in the Gilgamesh quest. What are the stages of Marduk’s corresponding hero’s journey? Do you find, in the last analysis, Gilgamesh and Marduk to be heroic or anti-heroic, how and why? Lastly, speculate on how hero myth and the stages of the hero’s journey may have changed dramatically with the emergence of male-dominated urban centers? Do think there is sufficient evidence to believe that prior to the Akkadian take-over Gilgamesh, or Bilgames in Sumerian, was more like a Neolithic male hero, a brother or helper of Inanna? What have been some possible consequences for his myth if Gilgamesh had stayed devoted to Inanna/Ishtar rather than finding Enkidu?

Question 3:

Choose one:

1. Compare and contrast gods and stages in the Babylonian and Egyptian creation myth—i.e. The Enuma Elish plus Pinch’s or Asante’s account of the Ennead cosmogony. Then choose one of Long’s, Van Over’s, McLagan’s, and Weigle’s typologies for creation myth, and point out which elements are present or not in both the Babylonian and Egyptian cosmogony. Next, explain how the myth of succession operates similarly or differently in these creation stories. Finally, evaluate how Babylonian and Egyptian creation myth conform to or diverge from Witzel’s overall account of the Laurasian storyline.

2. Explore the concepts of matricide, patricide, matriarchy, patriarchy in ancient cultures, their myths, and the theories of myth we’ve studied so far. Make sure to distinguish between a matriarchal and a pre-patriarchal society. Hint: the most straight way to pursue this question is to review or do a little more looking into Freud’s idea of the primal horde and patricide in his famous Totem and Taboo, and then to consider how the discovery of an original myth of matricide in the Enuma Elish problematizes or deepens Freud’s theory, why?

Question 4:

Choose one:

1. Analyse the character of Shamhat carefully in Books I-II as well as Enkidu’s curses and blessings. How might Shamhat be grelated to Ishtar in Book VI, and how is Shamhat potentially related to earlier Inanna myths? More specifically, interpret the roles and functions of Shamhat in terms of Inanna’s holy me (powers) in the myth of her visit to Enki. What is the wisdom of Shamhat that she ostensibly teaches Enkidu, and might this wisdom be related or not to the wisdom of Siduri that Gilgamesh learns and then practices closer to the end of his narrative?

2. Analyse the mythical, social, political, and religious relationship of Inanna and Dumuzi: a. in the courtship or hierogamy myth; b. in the descent myth; via the green man motif (or vegetative masculine fecundity myth) as expressed in the tales of Anat/Baal and Osiris/Isis; d. in terms of Armstrong’s and Gimbutas’s reconstruction of Neolithic Mother Goddesses and roles of fecundating male deities during this period.

3. Give an in-depth analysis of the themes of mortality, finitude, acceptance, magic power, and happiness in Books VII-XI of the Epic of Gilgamesh. Make sure in your response to analyze each of Gilgamesh’s adventures, trials, ordeals, and outcomes after the death of Enkidu.

Question 5:

Choose one:

1. Summarize and then critically evaluate Asante’s reasons for presenting Egyptian myth/religion as the true origin of Western philosophy. Bring together at least 4 Egyptian myths you find in Asante for which he gives a philosophical interpretation. What are the core mythico-philosophical concepts of the Egyptians, according to Asante? What is “the first occasion” and why, or why not, is it both an important religious and philosophical concept? How are Ra, Ptah, Maat related in Asante’s account of Egyptian worldview?

2. Having digested Witzel’s chapter, as well as revisited the professor’s lecture on it, explain the Gondwana vs. Laurasian mythical storylines, according to Witzel. Then evaluate Witzel, Voigt/Drury, as well as your professor’s lecture on Aboriginal Australian myth. How does this exercise confirm or fail to confirm the Witzel’s overall theory, i.e. what confirmations and what difficulties did you run into here? Do you find Witzel’s theory overall plausible or implausible, commendable or pernicious, why?

Question 6:

Choose one:

1. Summarize Witzel’s presentation and critique of the diffusionist and Jungian theories of myth insofar as they account or fail to account for the global spread of similar myths. Next, evaluate Witzel’s specific critiques of Joseph Campbell.

2. Summarize Geoffrey Bardon’s essay on the origin of Aboriginal Australian art-movement in terms of reconstructing how specific themes in Aboriginal Australian myth, from Witzel and Voigt-Drury, are vividly or subliminally present in Bardon’s biographical and literary essay. Be specific, and dig deeper, to see if you can connect Australian myths studied to specific citations in the Bardon’s piece.

Question 7:

Choose one:

1. Sita in the Ramayana is often read as figure who confirms outdated Indian gender roles and stereotypes, and as a figure replete with residues of a pre-Vedic cult of Mother Earth or Devi. Doing a close analysis of the film Sita Sings the Blues, and the textbook chapter on the Ramayana, summarize and evaluate the promise and potential drawbacks of reclaiming Sita as a proto-feminist figure?

2. How does myth and the role of mythic imagination transform from the earliest surviving sources such as a Rig Veda to the Upanishads, according to your professor, and Mahony? Explain the relation of religious myth to philosophy and theology as you find it the Rig Veda and Upanishads, and make sure to discuss three key myths from the Rig Veda and corresponding mythic concepts in the Upanishads.

3. Of all the accounts of women and the divine feminine in myth we’ve studied, Vanamali is the most clear and unambiguous in her celebration of the Mother goddess or Devi archetype, and call for her equal or even superior status to the Father in myth and psychology. Summarize the historical, spiritual, and psychological points she makes, and then do some extra research on at least one avatar of Shakti (such as Lakshmi, Parvati, Saraswait, Durga, Chandika, and Kali). Are you inspired to pick up and read the rest of Vanamali’s book on all the avatars of Shakti? Why or why not?

Question 8:

Since the material for this week’s unit “The Axial Age, Genesis, Key Women in the Bible, & Gnostic Thunder” just dropped, this question should be approached like an ordinary discussion forum post, and the slightly lower grading standards will also apply.

DO BOTH (5 POINTS EACH):

1. Watch the first half of the professor’s lecture for this week, and/or read the material and lecture-notes, and then provide a summary of Armstrong’s Axial Age chapter, and one of two textbook chapters on Biblical mythology (Genesis or the Flood).

2. Watch the second half of the professor’s lecture for this week, and/or read the material and lecture-notes on Lilith, Eve, Mary, Thunder, and pick any two of these figures of the divine feminine in Judaism and Christianity to compare and contrast in more detail.

Question 9:

In a cogent 400-500 word part-essay part-journalistic response, describe and explore how the culture, myths, and theories of myth we’ve studied so far have augmented your understanding and appreciation of what myth and world mythology are really all about. Make sure in your response to weave together / cite directly from your favorite three primary sources we’ve studied (at least one of these must something not already covered in any of your answers above), and situate why these are your favorite sources/myths in terms of three fascinating interpretations of those myths or applicable theories. Recommended: read and utilize “Thunder” at the end of this week’s material as one of the sources for this question. Finally, what is still missing from your study of myth and mythology? What do you feel you haven’t learned, that you would like to learn in the second half of the course?

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